William & James O'Dell
Ancestors
- Came From Castle of Odell In Merry England -
- The Scotch - Irish Blood -
- Flows In the Veins of James F. Odell , Long Time Citizen of Pike -
, Long Time Citizen of Pike -- An Honored Citizen of Pike County and of the World -
William Odell, the father of James F. Odell, was born in Hillsboro, Ohio in the year 1806. he was the son of Major James Odell who raised a company of volunteers in Highland County to go to the War of 1812. After the war he went to what is now the state of Michigan where he became a member of the first Constitutional convention of that new state. His wife died 1844, he in 1845.
the father of James F. Odell, was born in Hillsboro, Ohio in the year 1806. he was the son of Major James Odell who raised a company of volunteers in Highland County to go to the War of 1812. After the war he went to what is now the state of Michigan where he became a member of the first Constitutional convention of that new state. His wife died 1844, he in 1845. The grandfather and the family except the father who was then 17 years old, went to Michigan. The father of James went to Virginia, instead, where he taught school and married Miss Sarah Caudy who subsequently became the mother of the subject of this sketch. William Odell was a member of the Virginia legislature along about 1827 or 28. He emigrated to Piketon, Ohio in 1841, by wagon, the distance being 450 miles.
James F. Odell was born near Winchester, Virginia, October 31, 1831. His education was limited to schooling which he obtained at Beaver and Piketon under the tutorage, partially of Judge J. W. Longbon, subsequently an honored citizen of Jackson county. At Piketon he was the school mate of Bishop Earl Cranston, to be. His father intended him for a civil engineer and surveyor and to that end, he mastered, with a little help from lawyer Collins, the intricacies, of arithmetic, algebra, geometry and trigonometry. In 1853 he served on the U. S. grand jury at Cincinnati; Judge McLean presiding. He became land appraiser for Seal and Scioto Townships in 1860. He was marshal of Piketon in 1864. J. P. in 1865 and was appointed Sheriff of Pike County by Judge Peck to serve out the term of Jacob Vallery who had resigned in November 1865, to go to Nebraska. he was subsequently elected Sheriff and served 2 terms. He held the office of the U. S. Marshal for a short time and subsequently and in later years, was Deputy Sheriff under, Sailor, Buchert, Daily, Anderson and Tom Jones. Ten years ago he moved to Waverly.
For many years he has been one of the most successful agents that has everoperated in the county.
The remote ancestors of James F. Odell came from the Castle, Town and Church of Odell, Derbyshire County, England. His mother’s ancestors were Scotch-Irish. The mother, when 17 years old crossed the mountains on horseback, from Winchester, Virginia to Piketon and then back again.
Three single brothers of the Odell emigrated to Baltimore in 1760. William, settled and married near Baltimore but in 1800 came to Fairfield County, Ohio. The grandfather of James went to New York. Ex-Governor Odell is a descendant of that brother and is the cousin of the father of the subject of this biography. James now cherishes in his home in Waverly, photos of the Odell Castle and Coat of Arms, sent him by one of the Baltimore relatives. Uncle Jimmie, who is a great reader, says that Murray’s History of England recites that the Castle of Odell was one of the strongest in the world.
His mother’s grandfather came to Virginia from the bogs of Ould Ireland, the bonnie land of the shamrock and the songster Tom Moore, in 1750. His mother’s father was Capt. James Caudy, a builder of block houses who with a company of volunteers protected the first settlers of Hampshire and Jefferson counties, Virginia. "Caudy’s Castle" an inaccessible retreat in the mountains and 887 feet high, is always pointed out to sightseers who visit that part of Virginia. Hal Hempstead, Jr. a former citizen of Piketon married a wife who once lived in one of the block houses built by Capt. Caudy. Uncle Jim saw that block house for the last time in 1890 and it was still sound and used for a dwelling.
James F. Odell married a first wife in 1862. She deceased in 1882 and he married a second wife, still living in 1883.
In quiet contentment and in possession of the esteem and confidence of all who know him, he, with his estimable partner in the marriage relation , live in a cozy home in Waverly looking out upon the beauties of the setting sun of life, waiting patiently, because they have lived well and fear, not the inevitable change that awaits us all.
Odell Castle
Bedfordshire, England
A picture was sent to Uncle Jimmie Odell by Walter G. Odell, 1371 N. Stricker Street, Batlimore, Md. On the back of the photograph he had written the following:
This photo was sent from England to the writer by Lady Catharine Fitzgerald, daughter of George Heber Odell, some years ago. The west wall shown in the photo is part of the original Castle given by William-the-Conqueror to "Walter the Fleming," created Baron de Wahul in 1065. From "Walter the Fleming: decended the entire Odell family. The name has been variously entered in public records - Wahul, Woodhul, Wodhul, Wodell, Odle, Odell. The property passed out of the Odell name about 1575 when Agnes Odell, the owner married Richard Chetwodes. The Ashtons about 200 years ago, purchased the property and built a house of modern style (French Chateau) within the west wall. The wall they preserved owing to its great antiquity and strength. The interior of the house contains some of the rooms that formed part of the ancient stronghold. The river Ouse flows on the east side and the Village of Odell surrounds it. This record from the British Museum is authentic.
1913 Waverly Democrat
PCOGS Newsletter
Copyright © 2004
Pike Co. Genealogy Society a Chapter of O.G.S.
P. O. Box 224,
Waverly, Ohio 45690